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With thousands of Payment apps that are now outside, it is no doubt we will talk about scammers everyday. And with an App like Paypal, which is considered to be one of the best Peer-to-peer online transfer apps, it is also no doubt as a paypal user, you should receive paypal scams frequently.
There are presently more 400million active users on Paypal this year 2024. That's a wow right! Yes and with this number, scammers will always look for techniques to highjack these numbers and get some money into their pockets.
Paypal not being the only target for scammers, we have other online transfer apps like Cash App, Venmo, Zelle, and many others that will likely be households for scammers.
It is quite true that scammers are looking for all means to get some cash from people's accounts, but on the other hand, these peer-to-peer online transfer apps are also fighting these con artists with their different techniques they bring out every time.
And that is why there are undoubtedly some apps that people consider more since they have found ways very quickly on how to help their users avoid these scammers. And that is also why we decided today to bring this article and show you some common Paypal Scams and how you can deal with them and avoid from using you and your account for their benefit.
Table of Contents
Some Common Paypal Scams in 2024 and how to Deal With Them
What are Paypal Scams?
First of all, What is a Scam? A scam is a fraudulent or a very deceptive act that will fool you and is usually for your cash or for your money. Many people do scam and these people are called scammers.
They come up with various techniques like; they send you a message to login to your bank account and they get your login credentials and they scam or wipe off your account; they can also convince you to buy an article or a product that is inexistent with the hope that you pay half or 35% of the amount and they vanish the cash; and many other ways.
And so, Paypal scams are just for example these fraudulent activities, or deceptive acts, but they are all with the aim of removing money from your Paypal account.
So, without any waste of time, let's show you some of these deceptive techniques that they use and also show you how you can write them off and deal away with them.
Scams on Paypal and How to Avoid them
1. Unsolicited payment or transfer request scam
First of all, let's tell you that scammers are very wise. They will use your friend's profile picture and account details to it's full and full you to send them some money because they are seriously in need of the money. And immediately you send them the money, they block your account and vanish.
So, the first thing to do is not to confirm any transaction any how. If your friend asks you for some cash, be sure to call them from their phone number and ask them in person if they have asked for some money before you send them to his real account. Real account because they can use your friend's account details and use them against you.
And so, calling them to confirm the transaction even if you had to send him the cash since, still try to call and confirm he is the one requesting the cash. But at times, we can be fooled and we still send the cash without Checking very well, what to do next? Quickly report the account, and the scam to paypal authorities for them to take quick measures so that you can get your cash back.
To see more, visit our article on how to get money back from Paypal if Scammed. But Avoiding the scam is the best solution to every scam since your cash will not always be refunded if scammed(Not a guarantee you will be refunded).
2. Over Payment Scams
This is usually for those who pay for products on Paypal. You might be proposed a pet, puppy, bag, or any rare stuff that you should purchase and during the transfer, you receive money more than the normal payment. For example, it is supposed to be $200, but you receive $300 in your account and the buyer or scammer quickly sends you this message of excuse that the transaction was wrongly written that you should refund $100.
But the trick here is that as you are trying to refund the cash, the buyer or con artist quickly cancels the transaction in his own side and you remain with a $100 deficit. And then they vanish and block your account from texting with them.
Now, the first thing you should know is that Paypal transactions usually take some time to be finished. And in this case, if the scammer tells you that he or she sent more than the normal amount, you can just tell them to cancel the payment from their account and forget about them. If they insist that the transaction was done since, you should cancel it from your device, or contact the Paypal team for them to do the refunding.
3. Fake Password Reset Request
A sudden email from the Paypal team so that you should change your password? That's strange right? But it's normal since scammers will come up with emails or texts and that will look exactly like a paypal email and they will request that you should change your password maybe because of a scam(whereas they are the scammers). And they will provide a link in the email or text and say you should click the link.
Now here is the problem. Using that link, you will be doing everything in your account at their view. That is, your account will become their new television set and they will know your new password and all your login credentials.
To avoid this, just take note that if the paypal team sends you an email or a text, then they will also provide a pop-up info in your account when you login to your account telling you the same thing. When you receive this text, just leave the text message without clicking any link and then return to your paypal app or real website and access your account. If you receive this pop-up, then it was actually paypal but if not, you should know it's a scammer and from there, we will advice you to still change your password if your password is not strong enough.
4. The "Promotional or money Offer" Scam
This trick involves sending you an email promising a cash rebate or another type of financial incentive. The email will inform you that all you need to do to redeem the reward is sign in to your PayPal account and confirm a few details, O that you receive some Cash reward in your account and all you have to do is to login to your account and the offer is yours.
The link in the email takes you to a fake PayPal website, just like other email scammers do. By clicking the link and entering your login information, the scammers can access your information and empty your account.
But what is good about this is that it's easy to bypass this scam since all you have to do is just not use the link they have provided in the email. Just leave the email box and return to your browser or app and login from there. And most of the times, you will not receive anything since you can't just receive money of a promotional offer without doing anything.
5. Fake transfer message
Being surprised by a PayPal transfer is not always a mistake. In fact, con artists frequently employ this ruse to con you into sending them money.
The scammer may transfer several hundred dollars to your account using financial data acquired from a compromised PayPal account, then notify you through email that something went wrong. Ooops! can you return that? Your payment is sent to the criminal's personal card, which they have added to the fake account, and the money is deducted from your account together with the stolen money.
What to do here is just to make sure that before anything, first of all check if your balance has increased or not. And also make sure you wait for about 6hours before checking if your account balance has increased or not. If it has, kindly contact the paypal team to do the refund if you feel so much pity for the con artist but just don't send the money yourself.
6. Paypal Shipment Fraud or Scam
In the shipping address fraud, the fraudster gives a false delivery address and then gets in touch with the courier service directly to change it and get the product. Although the scammer can claim they never received the product and request a refund from PayPal because the original delivery address is invalid.
This is accomplished by con artists in many ways. They can send a pre-paid shipping label to the seller or specify a preferred shipment method or company. By using these techniques, the buyer can change the delivery address without disclosing it to the seller. Additionally, PayPal might issue the refund because the fake address appears in the transaction data.
Make sure proof of delivery is used (where the customer must sign when accepting the products) and never consent to changing the delivery address after money has been received in order to avoid this kind of PayPal refund fraud. If they don't, you quickly request a fraud to the paypal team and what the Paypal team does is that they will send a message to the receiving end to show them a proof of delivery and if they fail to show a real one, then a refund will be done into your account debiting from the con artist's account.
7. The Alternate Method scam
This is more of a tactic used by con artists to leave you with no recourse after they have taken advantage of you rather than a scam in and of itself.
Occasionally, a con artist will request that you send money utilizing PayPal's Friends and Family feature. This may seem advantageous because PayPal's standard sale transaction fee is eliminated.
Unfortunately, using the Friends and Family money transfer option to pay for goods is not allowed. The PayPal protection program is no longer applicable to any payments made in this manner. Once you've made this type of payment for goods, you are helpless in the face of accusations of fraud.
All we have to say is that don't fall for what they say and as far as the person at the other end is not a family member and that you are sure it is not a family member, then you should use the safe route so that you can request your cash if it is later on a scam.
Well, if you want to learn more about these paypal common scams and how to avoid them, quickly access this Paypal page and see all the Paypal scams with step by steps procedures how you can avoid them.
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Final Thoughts on how to avoid Paypal scams
PayPal provides buyers and sellers with a simple, practical, and secure method of exchanging money with virtually anyone, anywhere, and in a variety of currencies. Scammers, though, can get involved and make it unsafe if you're not alert. They will most frequently send you an email appearing to be from PayPal in order to obtain your login information on a phishing website. Scams involving shipment and overpayments through PayPal are both quite popular.
The best defense against them is to be careful. Any email or payment you receive deserves cautious attention. Remember that official PayPal communications will always address you by name and never click on links in PayPal emails. Avoid making commercial payments through Friends and Family transactions, and avoid giving refunds to customers outside of PayPal and contact the Paypal team for refunds.
Frequently asked Questions(FAQs) on some common Paypal Scams
Checkout some Frequently Asked questions that will also assist you in keeping your account safe from online thieves
How do I know if a PayPal email is real?
The Buyer Protection Program and the Seller Protection Program are the two protection options provided by PayPal. In the event that you believe you are a victim of a PayPal scam, go to PayPal's Resolution Center and lodge a complaint about the alleged transaction. PayPal will provide you with more instructions regarding your claim in the future. Although PayPal is generally secure, it doesn't hurt to protect your account.
Will PayPal refund me if I'm scammed?
Your real name will always be used to address you in the body of a genuine PayPal email (exactly as it appears in your account). Additionally, genuine PayPal emails will only come from @paypal.com addresses. Click or tap on the sender's display name to view the actual email address that was used, then check the sender's email address. Additionally, you can read about other PayPal frauds.
How Do I report a scam email to PayPal?
PayPal has a set process for filing a scam report. Phishing emails should be deleted from your inbox and forwarded to [email protected]. Before using your PayPal account once more, change your password and security questions if you believe your account may have been compromised. Use the "Report a Problem" function in the PayPal Resolution Center if you believe a scam involves fraud or unauthorized use. Choose the transaction to challenge from there and then adhere to the guidelines. Inform the appropriate authorities of the identity theft if the scam led to a stolen identity.